Could we see a three-way battle for #1 on next week’s chart? It’s hella early, and the landscape could shift decisively in one of several directions, but right now Interscope’s Lana Del Rey, Columbia’s Tyler, the Creator and Atlantic’s Meek Mill all look to be competitive.

Lana quickly became one of the coolest acts in the pop world upon her arrival, earning major mystique and blockbuster sales in 2012 for major-label bow Born to Die; she earned a Grammy nod for a remix of "Summertime Sadness." Her 2014 set, Ultraviolence, hit #1, and 2015's Honeymoon was on track for a similar bow but was kept from a #1 debut by the Drake-Future mixtape. She continues to enjoy a huge, active social following (10m Instagram followers, 6.6m Twitter) and big streams.

Tyler, a co-founder of the Odd Future crew, emerged with a raw, confrontational hip-hop style around 2011 and scored Top 3 bows with 2013's Wolf and 2015's Cherry Bomb. With his substantial streaming presence, network of affiliated artists, knack for cultivating controversy and formidable online following (4.1m on Twitter, 3.5m Instagram), he continues to be dangerous.

Hip-hop veteran Meek Mill remains a vital presence, with substantial streaming stats (including 7.5m monthly listeners on Spotify), though rumors continue to swirl about his inner circle of career advisers.

Meanwhile, another possible competitor could conceivably make this a four-way race.

While forecasts vary, an additional wild card is Sony Latin’s Romeo Santos, whose “Imitadora” just knocked “Despacito” off its #1 perch at Latin radio. Santos, whose 2014 set bowed with 65k and has earned 430k TEA (with 1.1m tracks sold), has earned 750m Spotify streams and could benefit from the increased visibility of Latin hits in the wake of "Despacito" and J. Balvin's "Mi Gente."

It seems we will likely have a battle for #1 on our next SPS chart, but the race will narrow to two combatants: Interscope’s Lana Del Rey and Atlantic’s Meek Mill. Based on very early reads, the two titles look set to bow somewhere in the neighborhood of six figures. Of course, the landscape may very well shift before the chart goes final, so don’t touch that dial.

Lana Del Rey and Meek Mill remain in the lead, for now, with nearly identical full-week projections. But Tyler, the Creator closes in as a possible spoiler for #1 this week. After appearing out of the race over the weekend, sales and streams have picked up.

Lana Del Rey and Meek Mill remain in the lead, for now, with nearly identical full-week projections. But Tyler, the Creator closes in as a possible spoiler for #1 this week. After appearing out of the race over the weekend, sales and streams have picked up.

Sources inside Billboard confirm that the publication is planning to count in-front-of-the-paywall Tidal streams of Meek Mill's Winners & Losers in the album’s chart total—and the potential chart ramifications are already seismic. Bible staffers are apoplectic over the lack of leadership at the top of the publication and the refusal to address the most naked example of chart manipulation in recent memory.

These free streams generate no revenue and thus equate to free goods, thus making them ineligible for chart inclusion. Also, the presence of the album in front of the paywall opens the way for unlimited use of bots to drive up streaming totals, unencumbered by accounts or logins.

We’re getting questions around whether Billboard is suddenly counting free streams for this coming week’s Billboard 200, seemingly due to some misinformation posted online. We’d like to take a moment to clear up any confusion that misinformation may have caused.

Free streams -- with “free” defined as streams a listener has accessed without having a paid subscription or as part of a trial period subscription -- have counted towards the Billboard 200 since it changed to a consumption model in 2014 where the ranking is determined by blending album sales, track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units.

Nothing in our process has changed for this week.

Billboard has always been transparent about the methodology behind the Billboard 200 chart, and you can read about our transforming to a consumption model here.

Billboard does not currently have in place any rule or rules dictating how an approved streaming chart contributor can present or promote content on their services. Nor have we placed certain considerations or restrictions on how we would count those resulting streams on our charts. By the methodology now in place, which was arrived at in partnership with our industry constituents (record labels, distribution companies, etc.), on-demand audio streams from approved contributors, whether in front or behind a pay-wall, or via a free, discounted or paid trial, all count equally, provided the streams are consumer-initiated “on demand.”

All of the above streaming variations are then put through an intense vetting process by Nielsen Music, which works closely with each streaming service to assure there are safeguards in place to guard against automated streams and/or excessive streaming from singular IP addresses.

When Billboard adjusted the Billboard 200 to a consumption-based ranking, we knew as an industry that we were moving into uncharted territory and would be facing new and unique scenarios as streaming continued to grow in influence. We have continuously adapted to that evolving marketplace and retail landscape to create new parameters and rules.

The debate in treating free streams differently than paid/subscription streams is a valid one, as is examining how each streaming provider allows access to its service. Again, no changes were enacted this week, but when and if any adjustments are made on either front in the future, they will be communicated in advance to the industry to allow for proper preparation time.

HDD wrote:We’ve been flooded with calls and emails about the Bible’s response to our piece about the inclusion of free streams on its chart, a reply that only underscores the cluelessness at the top of the publication.

More fundamentally, it represents the falling away of its last remaining shreds of credibility. We never liked to admit it, but the fact has always been that you weren’t #1 unless you were #1 on Billboard’s chart. What this latest episode—and the Bible’s lame justifications—reveal is that the chart has become as irrelevant as the publication itself.

Antiquated rules continue to govern what kinds of physical and downloaded music can be counted on the charts, but no such vigilance applies to streams. Even a few Billboard staffers, who understandably wish to remain anonymous, have admitted they can’t explain it.

In their laughable defense, the Bible’s editors claim they worked “with label partners” on determining the rules, although we’ve yet to find anyone in the label world who was consulted on these seemingly arbitrary guidelines. If minimum pricing applies to physical and downloads, why not to these types of streams that have no revenue-generating component?

“An intense vetting process” is alleged with regard to potential gaming of the system with bots or other manipulations, but no detail has been forthcoming. The ostensible “safeguards in place” offer little assurance that the least tech-savvy intern in our office couldn’t circumvent them.

Everyone wants to do whatever’s possible to maximize the chart impact of their releases. But without imposing these standards evenly to all platforms, we have a situation with streaming that's no different than handing out free CDs in the street.

Will the labels do anything about this, or are they still too worried about where Amato might put them on the Power List?

It's a tight battle to the finish line on this week's SPS chart, as Odd Future/Columbia's Tyler, The Creator and Interscope's Lana Del Rey battle it out for #1. Every unit is being scrutinized as we get to the wire.

Who will prevail? Don't touch that dial.

Note that Meek Mill would be in the mix for the top spot as well, but Tidal's rumored decision not to report numbers prevents a late surge by the rapper.

It's a tight battle to the finish line on this week's SPS chart, as Odd Future/Columbia's Tyler, The Creator and Interscope's Lana Del Rey battle it out for #1. Every unit is being scrutinized as we get to the wire.

Who will prevail? Don't touch that dial.

Note that Meek Mill would be in the mix for the top spot as well, but Tidal's rumored decision not to report numbers prevents a late surge by the rapper.

Now Tidal won't report numbers because they got caught cheating?

I'm ready to be loved and love the way I shouldLife's about, life's about to get good

After a tight ba ttle to the finish line on this week's SPS chart, it appears Interscope's Lana Del Rey will take the #1 spot with her Lust for Life, edging out Flower Boy from Odd Future/Columbia's Tyler, The Creator. Both titles finish with six-digit totals.

However, challenges may come from either side over the weekend.

Note that Meek Mill would be in the mix for the top spot as well, but Tidal's rumored decision not to report numbers prevents a late surge by the rapper.

Following a heated three-way race to #1, Interscope siren Lana Del Rey comes out on top of the Sales Plus Streaming (SPS) Chart with more than 108k for Lust for Life, which was propelled by strong online consumer purchasing.

[Editor’s Note: Why, yes, we did in fact giggle while writing the phrase, “heated three-way.”]

Odd Future/Columbia’s Tyler, The Creator—another beneficiary of powerful online consumer purchasing—debuts at #2 with an impressive 104k for Flower Boy, which puts him right on Lana’s heels.

However, at press time, challenges regarding the final numbers are coming from both sides.

Atlantic’s Meek Mill, on the other hand, ruffled some feathers when Wins & Losses, which bows at #3 with nearly 87k, was put up in front of Tidal’s paywall. Counting these streams, as Billboard apparently plans to do, would represent a reckless and absurd acceptance of blatant chart manipulation. Remember: These free streams generate no revenue and thus equate to free goods, making them ineligible for chart inclusion. Also, the presence of the album in front of the paywall opens the way for unlimited use of bots to drive up streaming totals, unencumbered by accounts or logins. Knowing that—and since these streams were not provided to our chart partner, BuzzAngle Music—we are not counting them.

Then there’s Disney’s new Descendants 2 soundtrack, which rounds out the Top 5 with 50k. All is certainly right in the land of Ken Bunt (aka King of Soundtracks, and Best Friend of Mickey Mouse). The Moana set (#16 this week) is already around 1.3m RTD. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 has about 400k SPS domestically, while Beauty and the Beast nears the 500k mark.

As for the remaining noteworthy debuts, Romeo Santos’ Golden (Sony Music Latin) enters the chart at #10 with north of 39k, while Nav & Metro Boomin’s Perfect Timing (XO/ Boominati/Republic) comes in at #15 with around 30k.

Five Linkin Park albums appear in this week’s Top 50, as fans continue to mourn the loss of frontman Chester Bennington. The Warner Bros. band’s One More Light—released this May—leaps #30-6, while 2003’s Meteora (#7), 2000’s Hybrid Theory (#9), 2007’s Minutes to Midnight (#14) and 2012’s Living Things (#43) all re-enter.

When it comes to SPS marketshare, UMG leads with 40%, SME is #2 with 30% and WMG is #3 with 29%, while the indies trail with 1%.

Streeting this week are albums from Columbia’s Arcade Fire and Cultco/Hollywood’s Joywave, along with the first live album from RCA’s Cage the Elephant.

Speaking of RCA, Kesha’s Rainbow—her first studio album in five years—is not far off. The much-talked-about set, which houses powerful lead single “Praying,” is due 8/11 (via Kemosabe) and could hit six figures, based on very early indicators.

While Billboard still hasn't posted this week's charts (while ours was finalized on Friday), we've got a preview of the next Top 20. Arcade Fire will be #1 on both our SPS and Sales charts, and the only debut to make the top 20 this week.